“The big picture.”

I remember being involved in a drama in which one of the characters was supposed to keep saying those three words – “the big picture”.

So, more like others would use “actually” and “apparently”.

He was supposed to punctuate his conversations with sentences like.

“Well, you see, we have to keep ‘the big picture’.

I like the fact that the early Christians were simply referred to as people of “the way” (Acts19:9)”.  I think that saved them from a lot of lights and camera.

Think of Paul for example, who introduces himself as a “bond servant of Christ” (Rom 1:1). No Master of ceremonies would take long introducing such a guy . Looks like the Apostle understood what it meant to keep the big picture.

Not many of us do, as a journalist for example ,I love seeing my name in print –not a bad thing, but that shouldn’t be my chief joy,when Paul noticed his followers were headed this direction, he noticed this trap of fame and asked “ Did Paul die for you” (1 Cor 1:13)?”

And the consequences can be fatal. The guys at Tower of Babel will tell you, they set out to “make a name for themselves” (Gen 11:4)and you remember how that ended.

King Herod too was “eaten by worms because he did not give glory to God”  (Acts 12:23)

In a world obsessed with celebrity, titles, fame and recognition, I hope we can all be able to nod alongside John the Baptist when he says “that I may decrease and that he may Increase (John 3:30)”

See? Next time people start singing your name, you may want to pause and ask.

“Is my name threatening Jesus’s ?”

After all, it’s about keeping ‘the big picture’.